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37 Responses to Hacker Help: How to hack my slip covers to NOT do this??

Had the same problem. I have the 2 seater sleeper sofa Ektorp and using a cotton slipcover. I used a 2′ x 4′ rug pad from amazon and placed it between the bottom pillows and the sleeper. Has been a week and the pillows have not slipped. Cost about 12$ and saved me from buying a new couch.

I made an inner cover for each cushion out of wool felt. (Old Army blanket material, well washed before-hand.) Then put the outer cover back on. The small fibers of the wool eventually intertwine with the weave of the outer upholstery fabric. This anchors the covers so they don’t slip so quickly. You should still flip your cushions on a regular basis. Two years on and it’s still working.

In my experience with Ikea’s Ektorp sofa, the problem seems to be that the foam cushions aren’t dense enough and –for the lack of a better word– smush down over time. Washing the covers in warm or hot water helps for a week or two because they are tight again, but the firmness doesn’t last long. I’ve tried the batting trick, but you don’t get the crisp cushion edges you want.

If you look at the Ikea sofas for sale on Craigslist, it’s usually only the smushed cushions that show any wear. The sofas, themselves, are very well built and will last a very long time with proper care.

I suggest saving up for dense, professional upholstery-grade cushions. I’ve replaced mine, and I’m extremely happy with the result. Now, the cushion covers fit beautifully, just like they did when I bought the sofa.

wrapping some batting around the cushions, and washing the covers before putting them back on will do the most good, though. IKEAs cushions are a bit smaller than they probably should be, but most manufacturers make their cushions too small because it saves them a few cents on the dollar on foam, which is expensive.

take it from an upholsterer’s daughter :: wash the covers and wrap those cushions in a couple layers of batting before you put the covers back on. the seat’ll be more comfy, and the cover’ll stay in place better.

Velcro was my first idea, but theres no way to attach the velco to the actual cushion.

We did wash and dry the covers (even tho the tag says dry clean only) and they did shrink a bit. It definitely helps, although they do still slip some, just not as easily. Also, you can tell that the cushions are a little smaller than they are supposed to be.

Im gonna try wrapping some rubber rug mat material around the cushion and then put the covers on. I think doing that, plus the slightly shrunken fabric should do the trick pretty well.

I would not recommend pins as it would create holes in the foam rubber where it would pull as it rolled. Velcro or double sided tape would end up rolling also, same as the slipcover.

If the covers are the washable type and they have not been washed yet I would wash them as they will shrink slightly and probably be snug enough to prevent the slip/roll thing.

If they still slip then adhesive is the only thing that will prevent it. Its what the Upholstery industry uses whether they are upholstering an item or simply slip covering it…the principle is the same.

First of all, this is not just a cheap-IKEA-sofa problem – cover-slipping happens to pricier sofas too. Ultimately it has to do with the forward/downward force exerted on the front half of covers when you are sitting on or getting up from the sofa.

The simplest solution is to flip the cushions every one-two weeks so that the covers are pushed back/forth on an equal level. Of course, this is only possible if the cushions are flip’able – either directly or by swopping cushions/covers. This would work even if the cushions/covers have a backside (underside? ) not meant to be seen – you just have to accept what it looks like while you are moving-by-sitting-on the covers back in place.

The muscle-powered solution is to manually move the covers back in place. That requires a good old-fashioned beating of the cushions to get them back to their pre-I’ve-been-sat-on shape and strong arms for pulling/forcing the fabric back. (Sofa-cushion-fabric is often heavy and stubborn). The problem is, though, that if you don’t do this at reasonable intervals, the fabric may already have been stretched sort-of permanently.

The final solution is to somehow fixate the covers to the cushions, like previous posters have suggested. It’s not a bad idea per se, but what you have to consider is that the downward/forward dragging of the covers will still be there. If you fix the covers with pins, the dragging force held back by the pins may eventually ruin the fabric where the pins are placed. The spray-glue/adhesive/rubber-friction method is perhaps better because it distributes the stress over the whole cover-cushion interface.

I have Karlstad sofa and I’ve noticed that it makes a difference which side you put the big pillows into their covers. Try to unzip them, wash and iron them, then remember the current position and put them back in the opposite way – you may first try to simply put them the opposite way, I mean the other end, and see if it works.I noticed that I had this effect similair to on your photo “bad” and then I switched them around and it was good. Hope it may help you. Try it out, at least.

I have a karlstad sofa with grey covers that you’re not supposed to wash according to the instructions. But I have (several times), and they shrink just enough to take care of the slipping problem for me.

You need to purchase some upholstery spray adhesive which will provide some tack or hold in that area. Any fabric or upholstery shop will carry it, try Walmart in their Automotive section. Just don’t buy any kind that provides a permanent bond. Most all purpose fabric and foam spray adhesives provide a tack similar to rubber cement where it bonds but you can peel it off. You will then remove the cover from the cushion and leave it inside out. Then LIGHTLY spray the problem area (as in your picture & I would also do about 1/4 of the way back at the top & bottom of same area). They put the cushion back on while inside out bonding the glued areas first as your turning it back inside out (make sense?).

I would however launder them first if you haven’t yet because that may just take care of the slipping problem.Reasons for rolling or slippage is do to either loose fit or not enough grab or both.

Also TEST A SMALL OUT OF THE WAY AREA FIRST and wait for it to dry to see how it reacts and make sure you buy CLEAR spray!!!!!

This is how Upholstery, Automotive & Boat Interiors take care of the “Roll & Slip”

Try good old fashioned diaper pins. Regular safety pins tend to be too small & can pop open at unfortunate times, but diaper pins are large, sturdy, & designed to stay closed until you open them. When you put the slip covers on, use 2 or 3 diaper pins per cushion, seam-to-seam in a row in an unseen location, like the bottom back seam.

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